Frost in Arendelle
by RavenCurls
Summary: Elsa is asked to stay with the Trolls after she has accidentally injured Ana. And there will be a boy who make her lonely days more bearable.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Disclaimer : I own neither Frozen nor Rise of the Guardians. I have only watched Frozen once, and Guardians not at all**

It was her fault.

Those were the only words that Elsa could think of as she looked at her little sister. Her sister was in her father's arms, her eyes closed. It would look as if she was sleeping, but her breathing was shallow, and the new lock of striking white hair was a harsh reminder of what had happened hours earlier.

It had happened so fast. One moment Anna was happily flying through the air, asking for more, and the next moment, she was on the ground, knocked senseless by Elsa's powers.

It was her fault.

Elsa looked up at her mother. Her mother, the beautiful regal Queen of Arendelle. But at that moment, there was nothing regal about her. The Queen spurred the horse on to match the gallops of the horse next to her. The fear was in her eyes. The fear that it could be too late.

Elsa's stomach growled. Anna and her had sneaked out to play in the throne room before dawn, before breakfast was served, and they had rushed out of the castle after the incident. There was simply no time for breakfast. There was not even time to pack some food for the travelers.

Her stomach growled again, and the Queen heard it. She looked at her eldest daughter with love and concern, and wrapped her arms around the little girl, so close that the princess could hear the rapid beating of the Queen's heart.

They rode through the grasslands and the forests. They rode through the folds of the mountains. It was only evening that they reached their destination, a secluded area in the middle of the forest, filled with green moss and boulders – the Valley of the Living Rock.

"We need help!" the King called out as he slid down his horse, his younger daughter in his arms.

All at once, the boulders in the middle of the valley turned around and revealed the Trolls. The Queen and Elsa gasped. They had never seen a troll before.

The trolls trudged towards the new arrivals, whispering among themselves.

"It's the King."

"Please," the King kneeled down. "We need help." He showed them unconscious figure.

"Pabbie.." the crowd spoke among themselves.

And then suddenly the crowd parted to reveal a troll who walked towards the royal family. The other trolls looked at him, respect in their eyes. Pabbie.

He took one look at the girl, and it seemed that he knew what had happened.

He stretched out a hand and placed it on the girl's forehead.

"You're lucky it only struck her head. The head is easy to cure. If it's the heart….. " he trailed off.

Pabbie touched Anna's forehead, his eyes closed. All at once, it seemed that Ana's breathing was soother, and the girl stirred in her father's arms.

"I will wipe away her memories. She will have no recollection of what has happened. But she will retain her happy memories."

The King nodded. It was for the best.

The troll turned and looked at Elsa.

"You have a very powerful gift, but you need to learn how to control your capability. To control your capability, you must learn to control your emotions."

"We'll teach her," the Queen spoke for the first time since their arrival.

"May I have another request?" The King asked.

Pabbie looked at the King.

"Can you…. Can you let Elsa stay and teach her how to control her powers?"

"Daddy!" "Your Majesty!"

The Troll King looked at the King. He did not look surprised.

The King looked at his wife.

"It will be for the best. We will let Elsa stay here for a while so that she can learn to control her magic. It is too dangerous for her to be near to Ana, or anyone, until she has it under control. We will bring her back the moment we can."

The Queen looked down, and after a while she gave a slight nod, her hand still holding on to her eldest child.

"No, Mommy, no!" Elsa pulled her hand away.

The Queen placed her shoulders on Elsa's shoulders and kneeled down so that she was at eye level with her child.

"Elsa, please understand. We need you to be brave. We love you," the Queen pleaded.

But Elsa only shook her head. No, they would not leave her here with the trolls if they loved her. They did not love her.

"I hate you!" she shouted at her mother. "I hate both of you!" She ran away.

She ran into the forests of the valley, not caring where she went. Behind her, she heard her parents called after her, calling her name, but she did not look back.

It was her fault that Anna was injured, but did they have to abandon her like that?

She ran without a sense of direction, without thinking, without stopping. She ran with only one purpose – to get away from her parents.

Her soft shoes stepped on the grass and her legs ached, but she continued running, until her foot struck an exposed root and she fell onto the grass.

Elsa lifted herself using her hands. The patch of grass under her hand froze, and the tears from her eyes solidified into icicles.

"I hate you….." she repeated, unable to control the tears. "I hate you…." But there was an ache in her heart which told her otherwise.

She had no idea how long she stayed there, the nearby grass and tree all frozen. And then she heard a voice.

"You OK?"

She looked up. There was no one there. But she saw a scattering of snow flakes from the sky. But that was not possible. It was summer.

"Who are you?" she asked as she slowly stood up. One of the snow flakes landed on her arm, and it stayed there.

"Who are you?" she repeated again.

A laughter filled the air. It was so close that she flinched in surprise.

"You can't see me."

Elsa narrowed her eyes.

"I can't see you, but I can hear you?"

A pause.

"Well, you aren't supposed to hear me either. But I guess… you're different."

Elsa looked at the frozen greens in front of her.

"I guess you can say that again."

The voice continued.

"So…. Why are you crying?"

She looked at the source of the sound. Just a sound, not a face, not an outline. But somehow that voice put her at ease. It sounded as if the owner of the voice was very concerned about her. As if he was genuinely concerned about her.

She looked down at her hands.

"I ….. I hurt my little sister, and …. And my parents are going to send me away. To live with the trolls."

She felt something on her arm. It was cool. Cool, not warm, not cold. But cool. Like a welcome breeze on a hot summer, like a warmer breeze in a cold winter night. And it felt like fingers of a hand. A hand placed gently on her arm. She could feel the gentle pressure.

She smiled. "I can feel your hand."

"Woahhh…. " The hand moved away. "This is creepy."

"Creepy?" No one had ever described her as creepy.

A nervous laugh in front of her.

"Yeah.. creepy in the good way. No one can ever hear my voice.. and now … on the same day… someone can hear me… can feel my touch…."

A hand brushed against hers. Elsa wrapped her fingers around his. A handshake.

"My name is Jack," the voice said.

"My name is Elsa," Elsa told him, almost forgetting about her unhappiness for a moment.

"Jack," she called his name. It was a nice name, and somehow she thought that it suited him, even though she had only known him for a while and had no idea how he looked like.

"Jack…. What's your family name?" she asked.

There was no reply from Jack, but his hand was still in hers.

"Jack…. Jack Overland….," he said after a while. And then he removed his hand from hers.

"Somebody's coming. I got to go." He said.

Elsa wanted to remind him that no one could see him, but she blurted out something else.

"Will I see you again?"

Another nervous laughter.

"Did you say that you will be staying with the trolls?"

She nodded.

"I'll come and find you," he said and then his presence was gone with another scattering of snowflakes.

Elsa heard the sound of rustling behind her. She spun around. The tall grass separated to reveal a pair of trolls.

"Princess Elsa. Their Majesties….." one of them said. There was pity in their eyes, and Elsa knew that her parents had left without saying goodbye.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_Splat!_

Elsa looked up from the bed where she was lying. Her pillow was frozen and so was half the room. It was a small house, consisting of just a bedroom and a toilet, made by the trolls on a short notice. It was made of rocks and wood, and built on top of a boulder foundation that was near the forest at the edge of the valley. The location was slightly away from the clearing where the trolls usually work and play, but yet near enough for them to hear if she hollered (not that she would). And they (perhaps except for Pabbie and his family) seemed to be in awe of her royal title if the placement of the house on top of the boulders was any indication.

Her eyes had misted over when they presented the house to her, a few days after her parents left. She knew that they had been building something non-stop for days and nights, but had no idea that they were rushing out a house for her. Though small, all the amenities were there – a bed, a table and chair set, a vanity table, a small bookshelf. There was even a full length mirror for the princess. She walked into the house, looking at the how imperfect every single thing was, but how perfect everything was. And then she remembered that Anna had always wanted a little house like that. They would sit on a corner of her bed, the duvet over their heads, and they would pretend that they were living in a cave, or that they were on an adventure in a forest and they were in their tree house. Elsa burst into tears at that point, and some of the trolls who were in the room with her gave a group hug. Frost spread from her to the floor and to the furniture. Some of the trolls were frosted, but they just patted her, letting her know that it was alright.

The trolls had built the house with rock walls and the wooden floor with another intention. When the sun rose, the heat from the glorious sun would heat up the rocks. The heat absorbed by the rocks would thaw any ice that was formed inside the room. The ice would melt, and the water would flow into the gaps between the wooden planks on the floor and trickled out, forming a rivulet as it flowed out of the house, down the boulder foundation and into the valley ground.

Elsa had a session with Pabbie that morning, and the troll tried to find out more about the history of her powers. But how to describe something that was a part of her since she was born? It was like trying to describe how to breathe, how to cry, how did it feel seconds before falling asleep and the moments before one awoke. She was just a child. She had no answer to Pabbie's questions.

She clenched her fists in the clearing, willing herself to calm down as he gently probed, hoping that the slight drop of temperate surrounding her was just her imagination and not something real. But Pabbie noticed it, and he had stopped his questions and let her go after a gentle hug.

"Elsa!" somebody called her name. It was Kristoff, his reindeer companion Sven behind him. He was an orphan, and fostered by a group of ice harvesters who brought him wherever they went. Kristoff had somehow wandered into the valley on the same day that Elsa was there, and Bulda had taken an immediate liking to both the boy and the calf and had adopted them.

"Elsa!" he called, looking back to look at the group of trolls that he had played with. "Do you want to join us and play?"

_Do you want to build a snowman?_

Elsa looked up in shock. Suddenly, Anna was in front of her, her hair still all strawberry-blonde, her eyes looking at her elder sister with adoration.

_Elsa, do you want to build a snowman?_

"No!" she stretched out a hand, as if to ward herself from Kristoff. She turned away and ran into the house, leaving a bewildered Kristoff behind.

_Splat!_

_Splat!_

Elsa got up from her bed. The sound seemed to come from outside the window facing the forest. She inched closer to the closed window.

_Splat!_

She opened the window.

_Splat!_

A ball of snow landed on her face, exactly on her nose. Elsa wiped it away with a hand and looked outside. There was no one. And before she knew it, another snowball shot out of the forest and hit her on her forehead.

She had no idea why, but suddenly her sadness left her and a laughter bubbled from her throat. She picked up the hem of her long dress and ran outside, ignoring Kristoff and the trolls who were still playing nearby and ran into the forest.

"Jack?" she called his name when she reached the clearing where they had met previously.

"I'm so disappointed. You mean I am not the only invisible friend that you have?" a voice replied.

That brought a smile to her lips. Here is someone, who had witnessed her powers, and he was still in the mood to tease.

And then something pelted the back of her neck. And then another one. And another.

Snowballs.

Elsa was laughing again by the time the fourth snowball hit her, on her nose. She tried to dodge, but it was kind of hard to dodge when you did not know where the other party was.

"Stop it!" she squealed with delight, turning around and trying to see where was the next snowball coming from.

To her surprise, it did. She sat down on the grass, trying to catch her breath, and then she heard a sigh as Jack settled down next to her.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

She nodded her head.

"Where have you been?" she asked.

"Here and there. I got work to do. So how have you been for the past few weeks?"

She told him, about the trolls' kind intentions and about the new boy and the reindeer.

"They are kind people, the trolls," Jack told her. "If anyone can help you, it will be them."

"What about you?" she asked, as she hugged her legs.

"Me?"

"Can you help me?"

"I can keep you company, but I can't help you the way Pabbie can. I am only good for fun things, like play." Jack told her.

She sank her chin on her knees, disappointed.

"But what if I hurt them?" she asked after a while.

Jack chuckled. "You won't. The trolls are not that bothered by the cold."

"They aren't?" she narrowed her eyes.

"Trust me. They had been buried in snow far deeper than anything you have ever seen, and they survived," he laughed at some distant memory.

"You certain?"

"Mmmphm. Certain as the sun will rise," he told her.

Elsa thought for a while.

"But what about Kristoff? And Sven?"

"Sven is simple. He is a reindeer. His kind is made for winter weather. Cold is nothing to him. Just try not to block his nostrils. Even the hardiest winter animals cannot survive if they cannot breathe," he replied lightheartedly and she laughed at his joke.

"Kristoff, on the other hand….."

She stiffened.

"Why are we talking about this? It is not as if you are going to keep blasting him with ice every time he walked by?"

"But what if I do?" The uncertainty was back in her again.

"You won't, because you are a strong, determined young girl and you will overcome this," he said firmly.

* * *

They met regularly in the forest.

Elsa began to sleep with her windows open. And every morning, the first thing that she did when she woke up was to see if there was anything at the window sill – a snow bunny, a miniature snowman or just a giant snow flake that somehow would not melt until she touched it. And when that happened, she would rush through her breakfast before she ran into the forest. Jack would be there, and she would tell him all the things that happened since he last came and he would tell her the things that he had encountered when he was away, embellishing them in such a way that she would laugh until she was in stitches.

Kristoff was usually not around. He still travelled with his ice harvesting foster family, and he learned the skills of ice harvesting from them. He dropped by the valley whenever he passed by the area, and the trolls would have field day hugging and pinching him. Every single troll loved Kristoff and he loved them too. A day with Kristoff in the valley would mean laughter and hugs in the morning, jokes and hugs in the afternoon, and singing and dancing around the fire at night. The night would end up with Kristoff sleeping next to the Sven like his personal fur blanket, surrounded by the trolls as they slept in their rock form. Elsa loved Kristoff like a little brother (even though they could be around the same age, but no one could be really sure, since Kristoff was an orphan) and she knew that Kristoff loved her like a sister, but she could never bring herself to be really close to him. There was always that fear in her that one day she would harm him with her powers.

The King and Queen came once every few months. They brought Elsa new clothes and toys, until she outgrew the need for toys and they brought her books instead. But they never brought Anna.

"How is Anna?" Elsa would ask. And they would tell her that her little (no longer little) sister was fine. But they never elaborated. They never told her what Anna did day-to-day, who her friends were, where did she go and what was her new favourite things. All knew that the more they revealed, and more brokenhearted Elsa would be. Elsa would put on a brave front when her parents were there, smiling as they talked about the kingdom affairs, hiding her feelings inside. She would ask them when could she go back to Arendelle, and the answer every time was soon. But soon never turned into a definite date. The moment they left, she would run into the forest again. The forest was her sanctuary, and the trolls knew that and usually would not follow. She ran into the clearing and called out for Jack. Jack had told her that the wind was his friend and the wind was everywhere. The wind would let him know when she called for him. She called his name, her tears running down her cheeks, freezing her face as the tears froze, until her voice was hoarse and she could call no more. And Jack would come. He always did.

Pabbie and the trolls were unable to teach her how to control her powers, but they were able to teach her how to control her mood. They taught her to count to ten (to fifty if needed, to one hundred even) when she was angry, to take deep breaths when she was furious and to think of her favorite things when she was upset. The last trick did not work very well, because a favorite thing included a favorite person, and her most favorite person was Anna, followed by her parents. And thinking of them would upset her again. But as the years passed, Jack slowly became one of her favorite persons. When she was upset, she would think of him instead. Of all the fun that they had in the forest, the jokes that he told, the way he comforted her whenever she needed it. But his face was never the same when she thought of him. Sometimes she imagined him with pale blonde hair like hers, sometimes she imagined him with dark hair. He was given blue eyes on one day, brown-green eyes the next. Sometimes he was tall and lean, sometimes he was broad-shouldered. But he always had a smile on his face.

As the time passed, she wanted to know how he really looked like.

Imagination was not good enough anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Elsa was never a sneaky person by nature, but desperate situation called for desperate measures.

Thinking back, she realized that Jack had never told her much about himself. So the next time when a miniature snowman appeared on her window sill, she put on that beautiful turquoise dress that her parents had bought for her recently and brushed her hair until it shone. When that was done, she pulled her hair over her left shoulder and secured it with a ribbon. She looked into the mirror and frowned. She looked beautiful, but something was missing. It was only after a while that she realized what it was. There was no accessory. Back in Arendelle, Anna and she had a box each, filled with colourful beaded bracelets, sparkling hair pins and crystal necklace. They would dipped into their boxes sometimes and played dressed up, pretending to be royalty neighbours visiting each other, or a handsome prince asking a princess for a dance (Elsa would be the prince, since Anna always wanted to be the princess). Anna needed some accessory, and there was nothing that she could use. She brushed away the memories of Anna easily and took a deep breath. She had not used her powers intentionally since she had injured Anna. She had no idea if she could still call it as easily. Elsa made a circling motion with her finger around the plain ribbon. Ice crystals formed along the length of her hair and the ribbon, making it sparkled. She smiled at the end result.

She went out of the house to a corner at the clearing where breakfast was served.

"You looked different this morning, Elsa," a voice said behind her. She turned around saw a troll.

"Bulda."

The troll princess smiled at her.

"You look radiant. Meeting someone?" Bulda winked at her.

"Oh no," Elsa shook her head as she felt the blush on her face. "It must be the new dress. It is from my parents." She quickly grabbed an apple from the plate and bit on it, only to taste crushed ice; in her nervousness, she had frozen the apple the moment she touched it.

"Enjoy your day, dearie," Bulda gave another wink before she walked away.

Elsa looked at the food laid out in front of her, and then at her hands. She sighed and started to count to one hundred. Breakfast would have to wait until she managed to calm herself down.

She went into the forest after clearing. She had wanted to run there, but a princess in a brand new dress did not run. And a princess in a brand new dress and a plan in mind would definitely not run.

"Jack?" she called out when she reached the clearing.

She heard a chuckle from a tree branch.

"What's the occasion, princess?"

"What… what occasion?" she stammered. Was she that obvious?

"You're all dressed up," the voice appeared in front of her. She flinched. She could never get used to it.

"You look …. Beautiful."

She blushed, and then smoothed her dress with one hand to hide her embarrassment, the other hand behind her back.

"Well, Jack." She took a step nearer to the voice, a sly smile on her face. "You know we've been friends for so long but I never know when is your birthday. And so I thought that we should celebrate your birthday the next time we met. Happy birthday, Jack." She said as her other hand came out from behind her back. In her hand was a basket, containing some fruits, raw vegetables and bread. "I know this is not much, but ….."

She could hear the delight in his voice when he answered.

"No, this is great. Thank you! No one has celebrated my birthday for a long time."

"For a long time? How long?" she probed.

"Well…. a pretty long time….."

"Why?"

"Well, we are all busy….."

"Even your family?"

A pause.

"I have not seen them for a long time," he admitted with a sigh.

Elsa's heart went out to him. He was just like her, unable to be with her family.

"Jack…" she took a step toward.

"Why are we talking about such sad things?" Jack asked, his voice lightening. "Isn't today supposed to be my birthday?" He took the basket from Elsa's hand. "And where are my guests?"

"Guests?"

"Yes, guests." And suddenly, Elsa saw a sprinkling of ice and a round table made of ice appeared in front of her. Jack placed the basket on the table. Another sprinkling, and four ice chairs appeared. Her eyes grew wide.

"This is incredible!" the little girl in her squealed.

"Watch this," Jack told her as a snow bunny suddenly appeared on one of the chairs. The bunny rested its front paws on the curve of the round table and sniffed at the basket of food. Elsa giggled.

"One chair for bunny, one chair for me, and one chair for you, and there is another empty seat. Who is the last guest? Who did you invite, Elsa?" he prompted her.

Elsa looked at the empty seat and then at the general direction of Jack, and it was a while before she realized what Jack wanted her to do. He had set the precedence by making a snow bunny. But she had not made anything big for a long time. What she had done that morning was just a little accessorizing for her hair. She could not do a snow bunny, or any other animal, like him.

"You can do it, Elsa. I saw what you did to your hair. You can do it. Just try. I am here to help if anything happens." _I am here to help if anything bad happens._

She could almost imagine him, with brown hair and brown eyes this time, a hand outstretched as he coaxed her with a smile.

"Don't worry, Elsa."

She gulped, and then she recalled something that she had created for Anna last time.

Elsa flicked her finger at the empty chair opposite the rabbit.

There was a whirl of icicles that appeared from nowhere and spun together, and it accumulated together to form a familiar face that she had not seen for a long time.

"A snowman?" Jack sounded amused.

"His name is Olaf," Elsa explained. "I used to make him for Anna."

"Olaf, I see! Welcome, Olaf the snowman," Jack replied with a dramatic voice to the stationary snowman. "Welcome to my birthday party. And my princess, please take a seat." She tingled when he said 'my princess'.

Jack pulled out a chair.

Elsa curtseyed before she sat down. Jack distributed the food between the four of them, and ice plates magically appeared just as he was about to put the food down on the table. Elsa looked in envy.

"How long did it take for you to master your powers, Jack?"

"Some time….. I used to have a staff, and then after some time I realize that I don't need it to channel my powers."

"A staff?"

"Yes," Jack answered.

"Do you think I need a staff?"

Jack chuckled. "You? You will walk around with a staff like a tottering old lady? You aren't that old."

"You are not old either, Jack. How old are you?" she probed.

"I'm not that young, either," he simply replied, leaving her question unanswered.

Jack was almost done when he took the last item from the basket. It was a carrot, and the bunny sniffed at it hungrily. He spun the carrot in his hand as he contemplated.

"Do you realize that your snowman does not have a nose?" he asked Elsa, gesturing to the noseless feature of the snowman. Elsa looked at Olaf. He was right. She had created Olaf when both Anna and she were very young and it had never occurred to her that her snowman was missing certain features.

"No worries. We got this," Jack said easily and then he shoved the carrot into the face of the snowman with one strong push.

The snowman opened his eyes. Elsa gasped. Olaf was alive.

"A nose!" he exclaimed with delight, his stick hands waving around before they landed on the carrot nose and played it like a music pipe.

The four of them sat down and enjoyed the party, even though Elsa was the only one who ate. She watched the three of them interacted as she nibbled her food. Jack was the perfect host, chatting with the bunny that could only sniff and rub its face with its paw and Olaf who was more interested in his tiny new nose.

"Jack," she called his name.

"Yes?"

"Tell me more about your friends." She did not want to mention his family and upset him.

He laughed, and started telling her about his friends – the Old Man, the Little Girl, the Sleepy Guy and the One with the Big Foot and Long Ears.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Do you think there are other people in this world who are like us?" Elsa asked one day while she was lying on the grass.

On that day, she was dressed in a simple brown dress, her hair tied into two rows of plaits. She looked up at the sky as she fiddled with one of her plaits. Her other hand was stretched outwards, barely touching Jack's fingers as he lay next to her.

She had no idea when it started. Maybe it started on the day they celebrated Jack's 'birthday', when their fingers had accidentally brushed against each other's when they tried to clean up the mess at the end of the party. That feeling, that subtle touch, was indescribable, a touch that was cool and yet sent a surge of warmth up her arms. Jack had always hugged her or placed an arm around her when she was upset and needed comforting, but now it seemed that he was touching her even when she was happy, simply because he could, because he wanted to. And Elsa, in return, was unable to stop her fingers from lacing with his when his hand came into contact with hers. He had held her hand as he guided her to a tree to show her something. She had reached for his hand when she wanted to whisper something into his ears. Their hands had sought out each other's when they had leaned against a tree and talked about nothing in particular. She had blushed terribly the first few times it happened. She did not know if Jack noticed it, but if he did, he did not mention it.

Somewhere behind them, they could hear the mumblings of Olaf as he talked to himself, wandering between the trees.

Olaf had started to melt at the end of Jack's 'birthday' celebration and Elsa had, with Jack's prompting, made a tiny snow cloud that hovered above his head. She had literally squealed in delight when she managed to accomplish that. The snow cloud snowed on a regular basis, keeping the snowman frozen. The trolls were surprised to see a living, walking snowman at first, but they soon (like, in five minutes) got used to his presence, although some of the trolls still tried to kick off Olaf's head when he was not looking but it was all in the name of good fun (which meant that they picked up the head after that and put it back onto the snowman's shoulders). Others tried to 'snow-nap' the cloud, or tried to stand close to Olaf in an attempt to get some snowflakes on their faces.

She rolled on to her stomach and imagined that she was now much closer to Jack. Maybe they were so close that their noses were almost touching.

"There is grass on your hair, princess," Jack chuckled. Drats, he was not _that_ close. Elsa subtly crawled on her arms toward his general direction, and then remembered the grass on her hair and clothes and made a frantic attempt to sweep them off. Jack laughed.

"Stop laughing, Jack. If I can see you, I will pinch your nose right now to stop you from laughing."

Jack laughed even harder. Elsa sulked.

She stood up, and she heard the sounds beside that told her that he had stood up too.

She turned to face him, her hand raised, ready to pinch his nose and then she remembered that she had no idea where his nose was. She felt that slight ache growing in her chest, and let out a sigh as she turned and walked away.

Jack grabbed her hand from behind.

"You are not angry with me, are you?" he asked, still laughing.

She looked at where he was supposed to be and could not help the next sigh that came out.

"Jack, it's not funny. Why can't I see you?"

"Why do you want to see me?"

"Won't you want to know how I look like if you cannot see me?" she posed the question. "Won't you be the least curious?"

Jack thought for a while.

"Well….maybe. But I can always ask you to describe yourself if I can't see you."

"So how do you look like, Jack?"

"Let's see…. I have three eyes... no, two eyes… , one mouth, one nose."

"How tall are you? What colour are your eyes? Your hair? What kind of clothes do you wear? What kind of shoes do you wear? Will you be able to draw a sketch of yourself if I gave you a piece of paper?"

Jack chuckled again. "That's too many questions at one go, princess. But I can tell you one thing."

"What?"

"You know you cannot see me…. So what kind of clothes do you think I'll wear?"

A fleeting thought, and Elsa turned red.

"You're not wearing clothes?" Elsa screamed, and quickly covered her eyes with her hands as if Jack would suddenly materialize in front of her without clothes.

Jack laughed, and then she felt a pair of arms around her, pulling her to him, towards his chest.

She nearly screamed at the thought of touching his bare chest and instinctly closed her eyes, and then she felt the woolen material of his sweater at her fingertips. It was soft and worm. It felt like a well-loved and well-used towel or blanket, and she felt like burying her face onto it.

"You lied!"

"Of course I lied," he admitted, unable to keep the chuckle from his voice. "It is so fun teasing you, Elsa. As you can feel, I do wear clothes." He took her hand and pressed it against the fabric of his sweater. Elsa spread her fingers and felt his chest underneath the sweater.

She stood there, in his arms, as her other hand reached out and felt his shoulder, the hood of his sweater. She curled her fingers around it, feeling the cold of what must be frost or snowflake. It was the first time she was so close to him, and she thought that she could smell what could pass off as fresh snow. She leaned against him, resting her head against his chest and feeling the slight moving of his chest as he breathed.

The playful atmosphere just now was gone.

Jack placed his hand on the small of her back and she let out a contented sigh as she wrapped her arms around him. He was slightly taller than her, and his body was lean, not like the muscular warriors that she used to see in Arendelle, but more like the ordinary men on the streets. She opened her eyes, and saw her fingers stretched out against thin air. She gripped his sweater, but while she could see the way her fingers curled tightly, while she could feel the fabric against her fingers, she could not see his sweater and she could not see him. Her pulse quickened as she unclenched her fist and clenched it again. And this time round, she could see a thin layer of frost spreading from her hand and coating Jack's sweater.

She broke away from him with a gasp, a hand to her lips.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked, concern in his voice.

She shook her head. No.

"What's the matter," she felt a hand on her shoulder, as a finger wiped away an ice-cold tear that fell from her eye before it froze.

She wanted to go into his arms again. Just wrapped her arms around him and let him do the same. Maybe if she tried again she would be able to see him.

"Jack…," she whispered, feeling rather pathetic. Aren't princesses supposed to have a glorious and charmed life? And here she was, someone who had hurt her own sister, banished to a land outside her castle, living like a commoner with the trolls instead of being with her family, and not being able to see the boy whom she was thinking of every day.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him again. Elsa looked at the face that she could not see. She reached out a hand, and touched his face. And still she could not see him. A thin layer of frost crept slowly from her palm and curved around his cheek. She imagined the frost covering his whole face, enabling her to see his features. She imagined an uncontrolled blast of ice from her hand, stunning him, killing him instantly.

Elsa let out a cry and fled.

She ran deep into the forest. Her tears blinded her, but her hands were stretched out in front of her, feeling her way through and blasting the roots off any tree that blocked her way. The cold never bothered her, but even when she was running away from the monster that was herself, she was dimly aware that the green surroundings had turned white.

Behind her, she heard the voice of someone else, a boy's voice as he called out a name. She wanted to stop running away from him and go back into his arms. She wanted to feel his arms around her, his breath on her hair as he hugged her close. She wanted him to tell her that everything would be alright.

And then there was a slight breeze and suddenly his arms were around her.

"Elsa, Elsa, what's the matter?" Jack asked as he lowered her onto what was formerly a lush, green forest ground.

Elsa looked up as she tried to catch her breath. It was now an ice field as far as she could see, the grass all buried under a sheet of ice, and the trees all stiff and frozen. A tree nearby snapped under the weight of all the ice on its crowning leaves. Elsa buried her head onto Jack's chest as the loud roar echoed throughout the forest, her fingers gripping his arms even while her whole body shook uncontrollably, her face frozen by her own tears.

"Elsa, it's alright," Jack stroked her hair gently. "It's alright. Everything is alright."

Elsa looked at her hands as she stayed in Jack's arms as if they were some evil limbs. She willed herself to calm down, to count to one hundred, but the numbers kept jumbling up and she had no idea which number she thought of just now. And then, amidst the rapid beating of her heart, she heard his voice counting out loud. She must have unintentionally said out the numbers.

"Twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-tree…"

Elsa closed her eyes as she concentrated on his voice, his soothing voice as he counted to one hundred for her, and then two hundred, until he reached one thousand.

She stayed in his arms even after he had stopped counting, even after the tears had stopped.

"Elsa?" he whispered her name gently and she felt his hand on her cheek, cradling her face gently. She leaned into his touch.

"I nearly killed you just now, Jack," she confessed after a while.

"You didn't." His voice was serious.

"I nearly did."

"You can't. It is not possible."

She looked up.

"Nothing is impossible, Jack. It is not possible for someone to have the powers of the ice and snow, but we did. It is not possible for a girl to be injured by her sister with a blast of snow. It happened. I am out of control, Jack. One of these days I will kill you, Jack." There was a chill in the air, and a new layer of frost coated the ground. It started snowing.

"You won't. You can't." he told her as a thumb caressed her cheek.

"Maybe not today, Jack. Maybe not tomorrow. Maybe not even next year," she gestured, getting more agitated. She felt the wind around her grew stronger and it whipped up the ice and the frost and snow like the beginning of a hurricane but she was unable to stop it, unable to stop herself from thinking of the worst. "One day, Jack, I will lose control again and I will hurt you like I've hurt Anna and I will k -"

He shut her off with a kiss.

The one and only person who had kissed Elsa before was Anna, who had this very terrible habit of kissing her family members on the lips. But she had not seen Anna for years (and most probably her younger sister had outgrown this habit) and the furthest the trolls went was to kiss her cheek (and that was only Grand Pabbie and Bulda) (though every single troll had kissed Kristoff on the lips before).

But this was Jack, and his kiss was definitely different from the chaste ones that Anna used to give. She felt his hands on her face, his cool, chapped lips as he kissed her again. She felt a surge of warmth from her heart, spreading to the rest of her, and in that cold frozen ground with the biting wind, she felt warm.

The wind died down.

"Jack…" she spoke when they parted. She wanted to ask him to kiss her again. She wanted to tell him that she felt the same way. She wanted to tell him to run away so that she would not be able to hurt him, the boy whom she loved. "Jack…."

"Elsa, there is something that I need to explain. It's about why you won't be able to hurt me. It's may also be the reason why you cannot see me."

"Tell me." She placed her hand over his which was still cradling her face. Hope flared up within her.

"I want you to listen with an open mind."

She bobbed her head.

Jack took a deep breath before he continued.

"Elsa," he spoke. "Do you believe in Jack Frost?"


End file.
